New Custom Factory Knives

This week the spotlight falls on two brand-new mid-techs from Custom Knife Factory. While both these knives boast the kind of quality build you’ve come to expect from CKF, stylistically they couldn’t be further apart.

On the more elegant end of the spectrum is the Gratch flipper, designed by custom knifemaker Anton Malyshev. It’s not hard to notice the similarities between this and another Malyshev design, the Sukhoi. Anybody who saw our Spotlight on that will remember that the only thing found lacking in the model was a flipper, a common complaint that has been addressed with the Gratch. This knife has a healthy flipper on it, and the action is lightning fast. Blade is a 3.75″ drop point made from M390 stainless steel, and sporting a super fine tip.

Handle is milled carbon fiber over titanium liners, with a swooping shape that makes for very ergonomic handling. This is a really comfortable hold, and while there’s no jimping and not a lot in the way of grip, this clearly isn’t designed to be a workhorse knife. There’s a lot of great craftsmanship in the construction though, with a custom pivot, milled titanium pocket clip, anodized titanium liners and backspacer, and a replaceable stainless steel lockbar insert.

The slim, sleek Gratch stands in stark contrast to the bulky, dangerous T90, named after the most modern of the Russian battle tanks. Designed by Alexey Konygin, this knife bears more than a few design similarities to another Konygin design, the Decepticon. The T90 is a thinner and lighter knife than the Decepticon, and the black stonewashed finish gives it a very tactical appearance.

The milled titanium handle is very large, with plenty of room for big hands. Its shape is quite ergonomic, though not quite as comfortable as the 3D machined handle of the Gratch. I do like the substantial framelock, which I much prefer to the Gratch’s titanium liner lock. Blade deployment via the flipper is fast and certain, and with over 4″ of M390 stainless steel you’re going to get some serious cutting done.

These two Custom Knife Factory flippers may be about as different as day and night, but you really can’t go wrong with either one. To learn more about these knives, click here. To see our entire inventory visit knifecenter.com